Elizabeth b



(No Model.)

B. B. BELL. TELEPHONE MOUTH PIECE AND HOLDER.

No. 430,913. Patented June 24, 1890.

[WE/V2072 .rltlomzey UNITED STATES PATENT OE IcE.

TELEPHONE MOUTH- PIECE AND HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,913, dated June 24,1890.

I Application filed November 6, 1889. Serial No. 329,423. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatI, ELIZABETH B. BELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at \Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Telephone Mouth-Pieces andHolders 'lherefor; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inmouth-pieces for telephones and in means of attaching them to thetelephone.

. It has for its object among others to provide an improved mouth-piece,by the use of which a much better result is obtained, obviating allrumbling sounds which often interfere with ones hearing what is beingsaid by the person at the other end of the line.

It has for a further object to provide a simple, cheap, and eflicientmeans of readily attaching the mouth-piece in place over the opening inthe transmitter.

The novelty resides in the peculiarities of construction, and in thecombinations, arrangement, and adaptation of parts, all as more fullyhereinafter described, shown in the drawings, and then particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the '0 accompanying drawings,which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of atelephone having my improved mouth-piece applied. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section through the door of the transmitter, mouth-piece,and its holder, all on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a perspective detailof the holder and the inner end of the mouth-piece.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the severalviews.

the present invention, being shown merely to show the application of myimprovement. The door B of the transmitter is provided with an openinga, surrounded by an annular groove or depression Z).

C is a circular metallic holder, formed of any suitable material,easilyformed into shape either by being stamped orin any other suitablemanner, and this holder is made of proper shape and size to fit snuglywithin the groove 1), so as to make a tight fit and prevent the escapeof the sound in talking. This holder is formed with a circular baseportion 0, from which project in the length of the holder the prongs orpins (Z of any desired nu mber, preferably four, as shown in Fig. 3.These may be an integral part of the holder or made separate andattached thereto by solder or in any otherpreferred manner. From thisbase portion a there project in the opposite direction the spring-arms6, formed by slitting the material of which the holder is formed and theouter ends of these spring-arms are rounded outward, as shown in Figs. 2and 3, so as to more readily admit the mouth-piece hereinafterdescribed. In practice this holder is designed to be applied to theopening in the door by pressing the prongs or pins into the groovetherein and forcing the holder hard up against the door so as to makeatight joint, and thus prevent the escape of the sound. The pins enterthe groove and do not marthe door, the openings they make when forced inbeing so small as not to be observed even if the holder is removed,which will not often be the case, even if the mouth-piece should beremoved, as I propose to make the holders so that they shall be anornament even ifthe mouth-piece is not employed.

D is the mouthpiece having its smaller end of such size as to fit snuglywithin the holder, the spring-arms of the holder yielding as the smallerend of the mouth-piece is pressed 5 therein, the outwardly-rounded endsof the spring-arms allowing of the ready insertion of the mouthpiecewithout injury to the end thereof. The solid base portion 0 of the"holder serves to closely hold the smaller end of the mouthpiece when itis in place, the inside wall of the holder being parallel with the outerwall of the holder and the inner end of the holder finding a bearing onthe inner wall of the groove Z), and the double thickness thus providedserves to more effectually prevent the escape of sound at this point.

The mouth-piece may be formed of any suitable material. I proposeordinarily to construct it of either papier-mach or guttapercha and ofgeneral bell form, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2that is, with anoutwardly-extending curve (1 at its outer end, thence curved inwardly,as at (P. I form it at the outer or month end with a diaphragm Dintegral with the body of the mouth-piece and extending within the sameon the arc of a circle,nearly a semicircle, as shown in Fig. 2, as Ihave found this form to produce the best results. Thisinwardly-extending diaphragm is joined directly to theoutwardly-extending curve (1 of the mouth-piece, forming, as it were, asharp spherical angle at their junction, as shown at (1 in lieu ofhaving an intermediate piece of metal rectangular in crosssection, ashas heretofore been proposed. Through the center of this diaphragm thereis an opening E in line with the opening in the door of the transmitter,as shown in Fig. 2. A mouth-piece constructed in this nian ner willconcentrate the sound as the operator speaks into it, and the convexityof the inner face of the diaphragm serves to throw off or outward anyrebounding or vibrations that usually tend to produce a rumbling noiseand enable one to be heard much more distinctly than otherwise would bethe case.

\Vhat I claim as new is 1. As an improved article of manufacture,

a telephone mouth-piece, formed with the month end upon curved lines andwith an illwardly-extending diaphragm having a central aperture andjoined directly to the outwardly-extending curve of the mouth-piece,forminga sharp spherical angle at their junction, substantially as shownand described.

2. A holder for mouth-pieces,formed of resilientniaterial,havingspringarms and pron gs extending in line with the holder at theend opposite the spring-arms, substantially as shown and described.

3. As an improved article of manufacture, a holder for telephonemouth-pieces, consisting of a solid base portion,from which extendspring-arms in the direction of the length of the holder, and prongsextending from the opposite side of the base portion, the free ends ofthe spring-arms being outwardly rounded, substantially as shown anddcseribed, and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with the doorof a transmitter having a groove aroundthe opening therein, of a holder provided with prongs inserted in thesaid groove, and a solid base portion from which extend spring-arms, anda mouth-piece having a smaller end adapted to fit within the spring-armsand into the said groove, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix inysignature in presence of two witnesses.

ELIZABETH B. BELL.

\Vitnesses:

L. I. ONEAL, A. R. ALLEN.

